The etymology of the word is not entirely clear. Several different senses of the word have different histories or origins.[1][2][3]

Common meanings of the noun include "cat", "coward or weakling", and "the human vulva or vagina", or as a synecdoche, "sexual intercourse with a woman".[1] Adjective meanings are related to the noun As a homonym, pussy also has the meaning "containing pus";[3] with this meaning, the word is pronounced /ˈpʌsɪ/, while the other forms are all pronounced /ˈpʊsɪ/. Another adjective is the rare or obsolete Northern English dialect form pursy meaning "fat" or "short-winded".[2] Meanings of the verb relate to the common noun senses, including "to act like a cat", "to act like a coward", or "to have sex with a woman".[4]

The words puss and derived forms pussy and pusscat were extended to refer to girls or women by the seventeenth century.[1][5] This sense of pussy was used to refer specifically to genitalia by the eighteenth century, and from there further extended to refer to sexual intercourse involving a woman by the twentieth century.[1]

Noah Webster, in his original 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language, defined pussy as: "inflated, swelled; hence, fat, short and thick; and as persons of this make labor in respiration, the word is used for short breathed". He gave pursy as a "corrupt orthography" or misspelling of pussy.[6] In 1913, however, Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary reversed the original, suggesting that pussy was a "colloquial or low" variant of pursy. That word, in turn, was defined as "fat and short-breathed", with etymology from Old Frenchpousser "to push".[7]

The Webster's Third International Dictionary points out similarities between pussy in the sense of "vulva" and Low German or Scandinavian words meaning "pocket" or "purse", including Old Norsepūss and Old Englishpusa.[8]

The medieval French word pucelle, meaning "maiden" or "virgin", is not related to the English word. It is attested in Old French from the ninth century, and likely derives from Latin. The precise Latin source is disputed, with either puella "girl" or pulla "pullet, young female chicken" suggested as earlier sources.[9]

Uses

Cat and similar

Both in English and in Germanpuss was used as a "call-name" for cats, but in English pussy was used as a synonym for the word cat in other uses as well. In addition to cats, the word was also used for rabbits and hares as well as a humorous name for tigers. In the 19th century, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, the meaning was extended to anything soft and furry. Pussy willow, for example, is a name applied to various species in the genus Salix with furry catkins. In thieves' cant the word pussy means a "fur coat".[1]

The verb pussyfoot, meaning to walk softly or to speak in an evasive or cautious manner, may come from the adjective pussy-footed "having a cat-like foot", or directly from the noun pussyfoot. This word, first attested in the late nineteenth century, is related to both the "cat" and the "woman" meanings of pussy.[10]

Female genitalia

In contemporary English, use of the word pussy to refer to women is considered derogatory or demeaning, treating people as sexual objects.[11] As a reference to genitals or to sexual intercourse, the word is considered vulgar slang. Studies find the word used more commonly in conversations among men than in groups of women or mixed-gender groups, though subjects report using pussy more often than other slang terms for female genitals.[12]

Words referring to cats are used as vulgar slang for female genitals in some other European languages as well. Examples include German Muschi (literally "house cat"),[13] French chatte ("female cat", also used to refer to sexual intercourse),[14] and Dutch poes ("puss").[5] The Portuguese term rata (literally "female rat")[15] and Norwegian mus ("mouse")[16] are also animal terms used as vulgar slang for women's genitals.

Weakness

The word pussy is also used in a derogatory sense to mean cowardly, weak, or easily fatigued. The Collins Dictionary says: "(taboo, slang, mainly US) an ineffectual or timid person."[17] It may refer to a male who is not considered sufficiently masculine, as in: "The coach calls us pussies."[18]

Men dominated by women (particularly their partners or spouses and at one time referred to as 'Hen-pecked') can be referred to as pussy-whipped (or simply whipped in slightly more polite society or media).[citation needed] This may be used simply to denigrate a man who is contented in a relationship. The hyphenated phrase is parsed as "whipped by pussy" – a manipulative relationship dynamic wherein a female deliberately or subconsciously (see passive-aggressive) withholds sexual intercourse to coerce the male into surrendering power in other aspects of the relationship. The male's weakness is his desire for access to female genitalia, and his willingness to weaken his position in the relationship to obtain that access, combining two uses of the word pussy.[citation needed]

Word-play between meanings

The Barrison Sisters lift their dresses to show a live kitten, a double entendre of "pussy".

Pussy is one of a large number of English words that has both erotic and non-erotic meanings. Such double entendre has long been used in the creation of sexual humor.[19] The double entendre has been used for over a hundred years by performers, including the late-19th-century vaudeville act the Barrison Sisters, who performed the notorious routine "Do You Want To See My Pussy?" in which they raised their skirts to reveal live kittens.[20]

In the British comedy Are You Being Served? the character Mrs. Slocombe often expressed concern for the welfare of her pussy. The double entendre made every reference to her cat seem to be a salacious and therefore humorous reference to her vagina.[21]

In the 2002 film 8 Mile a rapper insults his rivals by including the line, "How can six dicks be pussies?" The line relies on double meanings of both dick (either "contemptible person" or "male genitalia") and pussy ("weak" or "female genitalia"). Such word play presents a challenge for translators of the film.[22]

Pussy Riot is a Russian feminist punk-rock collective that stages illegal events in Moscow protesting the Putin regime and the status of women in Russian society. Band member "Kot" says that she knows how the word is used in English, and that it is also used in Russian as term of endearment for little girls. These various meanings create a tension with the word "riot", which the group likes.[23]